Another year...

 Well - HELLO there!

I do occasionally pass the computer and remember I have a blog.

Greetings from the bedside.

Okaasan asleep. As usual.

Dear Son and That British Woman sitting bedside, chatting about the shopping they are going to do soon, the plot of last night's Netflix movie, what to eat for New Year...

The hospital reopened last month after COVID had made its rounds, and we are back to weekly visits. Masks and playing music-she-might-like on the smartphone.

No changes with Okaasan's condition. She sleeps. Shakes her head. Moves her eyelids. Clutches the pillow/towel.

Years past there are so many Okaasan memories: as she tried to have a semblance of O-Shogatsu with the foreign daughter in law. The time when we tried to cook together, the (several) times when I bought stuff and then she bought the same stuff...the time when I served her and son rice cake soup BEFORE the traditional eating day of January 1.

This year it's a quiet hospital room. The TV is playing inane chat shows from another bedside, the staff drift in and out with charts and trays.

2025 is heading over the snowy hills.

Happy New Year to you and your loved ones.

He and I are home for the holidays. Maybe skiing. Eating. TV and computer. I should actually tidy the house, prepare my accounts for February.

He'll be making himself some instant soba noodles, I'll be eating some guacamole and crackers. 

Onwards!!!